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Indra renews Colombia’s Air Surveillance Network with radars to guarantee maximum safety and the efficiency of its air traffic

Published on July 14th, 2025
3 Minute Read
Indra renews Colombia’s Air Surveillance Network with radars to guarantee maximum safety and the efficiency of its air traffic
  • Aerocivil, the public entity that manages the country’s air navigation services, has awarded the company a contract worth more than €60 million to modernize over 50% of its radars, including those in new locations such as the Andean mountain range
  • Equipped with advances such as 3D technology, they will provide reliable and high-quality data, even in extreme weather conditions, to guarantee operations and the safety of the civil airspace while facilitating more seamless and punctual traffic management
  • This project, the largest civil aeronautics contract to date in Latin America, will, with Indra’s support, foster a more efficient model for the renewal of the country’s air surveillance network

Indra is set to further modernize Colombia’s air surveillance network with the
delivery of the first of the new radars to be installed in the country. The contract, awarded by Aerocivil, the public entity that manages all the air navigation services in the country, is valued at over €65 million, and it envisages the renewal of over 50% of the current radars.

It’s the largest civil aeronautics contract ever concluded in Colombia and Latin America in terms of volume, but also ambition, as it will entail equipping seven new stations with the latest technology to guarantee maximum safety and the efficiency and sustainability of the civil aviation system, facilitating more seamless air traffic management and, in turn, contributing to greater punctuality.

The project will encompass the planning, design, installation, commissioning, and security of the entire radar renewal process and the construction of new sites throughout Colombia, a large country with complex mountainous terrain, especially the Andes.

Indra will deploy seven primary radars (one of them long-range), seven MSSR mode S secondary radars with integrated ADS-B systems, and seven independent ADS-B radars to monitor aircraft movements. The systems will be devoted to ensuring efficient and safe operations in Colombia’s airspace and they will be equipped with the latest technologies to guarantee exchanges of information during the different take-off and flight phases, both en route and during approaches to the country’s main airports.

The primary radars, with 3D functions, will implement the latest technologies to ensure the surveillance of airports and air routes and provide accurate information on aircraft positions, including flight altitudes, even in highly extreme weather conditions, by picking up signals from the ground and natural and human interferences. They will be supported by Indra’s MSSR mode S secondary radars, the most advanced of their kind on the market, with integrated ADS-B systems that automatically collect data during a flight.

In global terms, its technology can be found at over 11,000 air traffic facilities and it contributes to the safety of the passengers who take a flight on any particular day anywhere in the world, given that it plays a part at some point in their journeys.

Katarzyna Żmudzińska
Kasia is an ATM consultant with international experience in technical and regulatory projects gained in consulting companies - Think Research (UK) and EY (Brussels), as well as organisations like European Commission (DG MOVE), Eurocontol and ICAO and most recently a market intelligence expert with FoxATM.
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